Category Archives: Edtech

best practices, Edtech, Tech Tools, technology, Video Tutorials

Vol.#109: My Favorite Teacher Website Hack

Leave a comment

I’m in my 20th year of teaching middle school. It’s rare, but every so often I discover a way of doing things that really simplifies my life. This is one of those things. Seriously. I cannot oversell this. This was a total game changer for me.

And yet, it’s so simple that it actually makes me wonder if those of you reading this are going to say, “Well, duh. I already do that. What took you so long?”

Before I made this change, I’d write out my agenda for class each day on the board. Eventually, I graduated to putting my daily agenda on google slides, where I could edit them easily, insert timers and links, and have them ready-to-tweak for the next year. Anyway, with either system, at the end of each long day, I’d go onto my teacher website and type out all the information for my students and their parents to reference.

If you still do this, get ready. I’m about to change your life.

I still make google slides based on each unit. The first slide has buttons serving as links to each day, and each slide thereafter is a day in the unit. But now… I embed the slides directly in my website.

And therefore, whenever I update my google slides, even on the fly during class when I realize we are not going to get to a certain activity or need to skip something, it’s already on my website.

Seriously, I update my teacher website at the beginning of the year and once briefly at the beginning of a unit, and don’t touch it again, and yet every single step we do in class each day is always immediately on my website.

Here’s a video from my YouTube channel that tells you how:

Want to skip creating the google slides for your unit? I have some google slide templates with linked buttons, all ready for you to embed and update with your own lessons. Please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store here.

Preview Classic Chalklboard IMAGES.001Preview B&B IMAGES.001.jpegCOLORED PENCILS.001.jpeg

What’s your favorite teacher life hack? Please share in the comments!

Advertisement
Edtech, Tech Tools, technology, Video Tutorials

Vol.#100: Read Theory Tutorial

3 Comments

My principal encourages us to be able to explain the great work we do at our school in a “five floor elevator speech”. I like the vivid case for brevity when delivering powerful information. Therefore, in honor of the one hundredth volume, I have created the first installment of what I hope will be a recurring series here on TSV: “Tech Tool Tutorials for Teachers in Two Minutes”.

There are so many tools and teachers have so little time. They need to know what tools are worth their time exploring further. Plus, as a language arts teacher, I’m a sucker for alliteration. 🙂

Have a tech tool you’d like to see me cover in two minutes? Make sure to leave it in the comments!

best practices, Edtech, Infographics, musings, reflection

Vol.#95: New Rule

Leave a comment

I’ve written many times about the importance of educational technology,  the tools that can differentiate for students, engage them, and provide data for teachers.

However, it’s not imperative that a teacher be an expert in #edtech. Like our students, there’s a range of abilities and circumstances. Also like our students, what makes the biggest difference is the approach, the attitude, the  willingness to learn. 

And I have to say, teachers are oftentimes the worst learners. It amazes me when teachers offer up excuses they would never allow a student to give them.

We are months away from 2016. Being a tech expert is not required, but ignoring educational technology is no longer an option. It’s in the standards. It’s part of your job.

Make. An. Effort.

So, borrowing the concept from Bill Maher’s segment of the same title: “New Rule”…

New Rule:

If you wouldn’t allow the excuse, don’t offer it as your own.

Tech Rules

/soapbox

I feel better. 🙂

Edtech, Tech Tools, technology

Vol.#94: Five Google Tools that Rule at School

1 Comment

It’s been a great start to the school year for me in my busy year-round world (which starts in July), but I am afraid I have ignored TSV nation in the hustle and bustle. This year, my county (finally) rolled out Google Accounts for the students. I thought I’d apologize for my absence by compiling and sharing the resources I’ve found helpful in making the most of Google in my Classroom.

First, if you aren’t already using Google Forms to create and then Flubaroo to grade your assessments, you owe it to your free time to do so. This second-grade teacher has created a pretty comprehensive video on using Google Forms. She’s creating a parent survey instead of a student assessment, but the principle is the same. I also like that she included instruction on how to use QR Stuff and the link shortener bitly to make sharing the Google Form with your students super simple. Once you know how to create forms and share them with your students for them to complete, your next step is Flubaroo:

I’ve had students complete homework questions on the bus on their phone by going to the Google Form link. I;ve had 17 different novels, and students scanned the correct QR code to get to the test for their novel, making handing out tests for that many different books simple. From assignments large to small, Google Forms + Flubaroo rules.

*         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *

Because of our student Google Accounts, I set up Google Classroom this year instead of continuing my use of Edmodo. Here’s a quick overview about its features:

I especially like the ability to create a frame for a written assignment and digitally “hand it out” to every student’s Google Drive. When reviewing, I like suggesting edits so they can see where to correct it, and commenting on text as well.

*         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *

I’ve started using Doctopus and Goobrics with Google Classroom. Doctopus pulls all your Google Classroom submitted assignments into one spreadsheet and Goobrics pulls in your rubric for easy assessment. I found this tutorial helpful:

The completed rubric pastes below the essay in the same google doc, so feedback is automatically and paperlessly “handed out”. I used roobrix.com to create a percentage for the gradebook.

*         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *

So…. here are the Five Google Tools at RULE at School. Did I mention they are all free?

  • Google Forms + Flubaroo
  • Google Classroom
  • Doctopus + Goobrics.

Have love for one of these tools or another to add?

Please share in the comments!

Edtech, Literacy, technology

Vol.#92: ISTE 2015 Presentation Screencast [CROSSPOST]

Leave a comment

ISTEMy last two posts on Teaching Speaks Volumes have been about the steps to convert student-completed Google Forms to WordPress blog posts and why I use it in my classroom for Independent Reading.

This technology process was developed with my colleague and friend Paul Cancellieri (@mrscienceteach and scriptedspontaneity.com).

We were fortunate enough to present at #ISTE2015 in a Snapshot format on Tuesday afternoon and a Poster Presentation on Wednesday morning about it.

We had lots of positive feedback, and screencasted our ISTE 2015 Presentation to be able to share it with our wonderful, extensive digital PLNs.

 

Check it out here:

 

Related Posts:

Edtech, Literacy

Vol. #91: *How* I Turned Independent Reading into Interactive Blogging [Crosspost]

1 Comment

For the discussion on *WHY* I Turned Independent Reading into Interactive Blogging, read that post here.

The first step for me in creating a custom technology tool that met my needs was to know Paul Cancellieri. Luckily, if you don’t, he has explained the process in detail on his blog Scripted Spontaneity and I am crossposting it here for my readers. The process we have developed is the basis for our two presentations this week at ISTE.

1. Create a blog: The video below illustrates the simplest method (in my opinion) using the free WordPress.com service.  Edublogs is a hosted version of WordPress that is specifically designed for classrooms, but you need their “Pro” level paid service to activate the “post by email” feature that makes this process much simpler.  So, I recommend going to WordPress.com as a free alternative.  After creating the blog, you can customize the site to include a school or district logo, or just tweak the colors to make it more appealing.  Note: Any blogging platform that supports the “post by email” feature will work for this purpose.

2. Create a form: The video below demonstrates how to use Google Docs to create a form that collects the information that you find important.  Keep in mind that some of the collected information will be used to generate the blog post, but other information (e.g., student identifying details) can be kept off the blog and only viewable by the teacher for the purposes of assessment.  Feel free to start with my template, but be sure to go to the File menu and Save a Copy before editing it.

3. Use a plugin to convert the submitted form into an email message: Here I explain how I used formMule to perform this function, including the important step of matching the format that WordPress.com accepts in their Post by Email feature.

4. Create a submission page on the blog: The final step is to embed the Google Form on a page of the WordPress.com site that is password protected so that only your students can submit blog entries.  You can moderate all entries so that no unauthorized submissions get published as blog posts.

Tips and Troubleshooting

  • If the blog posts are not showing up on your blog, start by checking that the form is saving information.  Do this by looking at your Responses spreadsheet in Google Docs.  If entries are found there that are not posted on the blog, move on to the next bullet.
  • Next, go to the Dashboard for your WordPress.com blog and go to the All Posts area.  Check to see if the posts are sitting in Draft form or otherwise waiting to be published.  You may need to tweak the language in the formMule template to get the blog posts to be published automatically.
  • Be aware that the author of the post will be you.  The blog post author’s name will match the name of the WordPress.com account that activated Post by Email.  You may want to adjust the official name on that account to look more like “Student Blogger” or something similar.
#edchat, Edtech, technology

Vol.#86: Facebook vs. Twitter 

Leave a comment

From colleagues to family, some have asked why I use both Facebook and Twitter. What is the need for two different social media venues? How much can I possibly have to say?

While there is no one way to use any digital tool, for me there is a stark difference between how I use Facebook and how I use Twitter. Simply put: Facebook is personal, and Twitter is professional. This again is certainly not the only way they could be used, but it is the way that has worked for me. I find myself often explaining how my use differs using a metaphor, and some have told me the analogy helps them. I’ve described it here in case it helps you or perhaps someone you know.

pool-115850_1280Facebook is your own personal swimming pool. You decide who is allowed to come and socialize and swim. You need to monitor your settings to know who is able to see into the windows of your establishment. You can mark people as “close friends” to follow them as a VIP and keep in closer contact with them. Your resort style might be an intimate gathering, a large vacation spot with many friends and family, or a wild spring break party hot spot. It’s a social time, fun with friends and family. And while you can’t control the conversation of all your ‘guests’, you can decide whom to invite.

niagara-218591_1280Twitter is the social media Niagara Falls. There is no controlling the deluge of information and tweets that flood the stream of social media on Twitter. You can choose who to follow, and people can choose to follow you, but essentially it’s a free-flowing river of information and you are simply targeting which ‘water’ you are more likely to sip.

When I want some ideas in the classroom, I search the key word or appropriate hashtag (#). I won’t catch everything in that topic or every tweet from someone I follow (unless they tag me in it with my @teachingspeaks name or direct message me). I just fill my cup as needed, and send out other links, images, and tidbits that I think may quench someone else’s thirst.

Cybraryman has a list of all educational chats. Following a chat is much like a chat-room of the 1990s about that topic. Following a chat is a great introduction to Twitter, since it has a structure and time parameters. It’s also a great way to find people to follow who are interested in similar topics. Of course, education is far from the only topic in Twitter. From politics to crafts, famous tv shows to obscure books, whatever your passion, there’s a feed and folks to follow.

tl,dr: Facebook is learning what’s going on in the lives of people I know, and Twitter is learning about topics I’m interested in, mostly from people I don’t.

I’ve recently added a Teaching Speaks Volumes Facebook page, which is a huge departure from the approach I’ve used for years described here. It’s an experiment still unfolding.

How do you use Social Media?

Edtech, Literacy, Tech Tools

Vol. #82: Read Theory

3 Comments

I set up ReadTheory for my students Friday and I am wondering where this FREE tool has been all my life! It definitely belongs on my list of free reading RTI strategies.

ReadTheory is a literacy tool which tailors itself to the student’s individual performance in reading. It selects a passage and questions for the student at random from the pool of available quizzes at the student’s level:

Students “choose a level to start.” My students were not aware that it meant “grade level” and some assumed they would start on “level 1”. After completing a passage that was entirely too easy, it quickly adjusted for them.

The video references how it adapts to a student’s performance as they go. Here’s how:

â–² Level up: If a student performs outstandingly on the quiz (score 90% or more), then the quiz is never shown again and the level increases by one.
â–º Level unchanged: If the student passes this quiz (score between 70% and 89%), it is never shown again and the student remains at the same current grade level of reading.
â–¼ Level down: If the student performs poorly on the quiz (score 69% or less), then the quiz is replaced into the pool of available quizzes and the level decreases by one.

The teacher receives data charts and progress reports which are interactive and intuitive. The class average, student start level, current level, average level, and number of tests completed are all shown.

I especially like that students get immediate feedback on the questions they get right and wrong, and that for incorrect passages, they can click to get the “explanation behind the answer”.

There are several ways ReadTheory could be improved:

  • Being able to upload a csv file would have been really nice, although entering  students’ names one at a time didn’t take too long.
  • I would have really appreciated an easy pdf download by class that has the website, default password, and each students’ username in rows to cut apart for easier distribution.
  • I have some parents who would love a parent log in, similar to what Edmodo, Class Dojo, and Class Charts have, so that they could see their child’s ongoing progress.
  • Some of my students have noted it’s a lot like Study Island (which many of them had in Elementary school) but without the fun gaming/reward part.
    • Study Island costs money and I appreciate that Read Theory is free. It does keep “points” in some fashion, but I’m unclear how these are obtained and what they represent. They do not appear to be attached to badges or any type of reward within the actual web App outside of the statement of “You now have X many points.”  As I learn more, I may look to how I can reward them “outside the screen” in my classroom.
  • There’s no “stop”. Our students are trained to look for the stop sign when testing. These passages keep going on until a student chooses or a teacher tells them to stop. Choosing how many passages to do (or a time limit) and having a “stop” pop up would be a nice option.

These suggested improvements aside, I really like ReadTheory so for its ease of use, intuitive data, and personalization for students.

Edtech, Tech Tools

Vol.#81: Nuggets of Wisdom from #NCTIES

Leave a comment

Two days of networking, presenting, and learning. I’ve tried to capture a few #NCTIES nuggets wisdom into this one location.

The session resource page: has resources, presentation slides, and more.

I felt there were the following central recurring ideas around the  “Make IT Personal” theme:
personalize learning
technology personalizes instruction
make personal connections with students
 .
A few other gems I didn’t want you to miss when digging through the resource page…
  • Steven Anderson (@web20classroom) shares all session notes & his presentation slides here >
    • One of his cool quotes:  “Learning is very social. If no one had ever shared anything with anyone ever, no one would know anything now.”

Life of an Educator: 10 images to share at your next faculty meeting. via Justin Tarte

This video was shared in one session. Loved it…

Edtech, Literacy, Tech Tools, technology

Vol#80: “Using Technology to Personalize Literacy Instruction” #NCTIES15

1 Comment

This post is to:

  • provide attendees of my NCTIES presentation, “Using Technology to Personalize Literacy Instruction” with resources in one place
  • share the resources of this presentation with TSV readers and  PLNs unable to attend but would value the information

Screen Shot 2015-03-06 at 3.12.22 AM

 

Session Essential Questions:

  • What technology tools are available to support readers at various levels?
  • How can these tools support students as they work to meet CCSS ELA/Literacy standards?
  • How can they simplify and enhance a teacher’s ability to differentiate literacy instruction for classes that have a wide range of reading abilities?

Session Learning Goals:    (The teachers will be able to…)

  • use technology to assess the level of a text
  • embed questions, discussion, and video right into the text
  • enable students to create their own digital book

 

A screencast of the tools I featured is available here:    Vol.#62: Every Teacher a Literacy Teacher Via Technology

 

My own rubric for using Newsela quizzed & leveled articles as Article of the Week can be downloaded for free from TpT by clicking here.

 

Literacy Tools Featured:

 

Other tools mentioned: